Life's Little Adventures (Esme)

[Judas]

He listened intently to her tale. He’d been both right and wrong. The girl had lived with the benefits of being rich but it hadn’t made her life completely carefree. He had guessed that she would have had to bear the annoyance of friends who only liked her for her money. What he hadn’t figured had been the parts about the prince she’d dated and the strictness of her parents when it came to the family business.

The bits about the effect discovering her magic had had on her life was interesting if sad. It was interesting to learn that the girl’s magic had acted without her for years and sad because it had forced her apart from her peers and family. He did wonder though what the prince’s parents had threatened him with that had made him leave, he wouldn’t ask of course. He of all people knew a painful question when he heard one.

“Well, from what I hear you’ll be learning a lot more about magic. You couldn’t ask for a better mentor than Morgan.” Of course Jonas knew more over all but Morgan had a more pleasant attitude, somehow he thought the girl would get along better with the sorceress. He shrugged in answer to the question he knew was coming of how he’d known she would be studying with Morgan. “Eavesdropping is an irritating habit of mine.”

[Esme M. Lolland]

Esme giggled, "I think there's an old saying that applies for you as well, curiosity killed the cat," Esme raised her eyebrow and smiled when she repeated the statement. "The only difference for me and you is I go straight to the person, you don't."

Esme took a sip of her pint,"Vlad said that I would benefit greatly from being her student, but it's a strange concept for me. I've never had only one mentor, and when I say 'never' I truly mean 'never'. Each mentor I've had told me who to move on to the following evening, and truthfully I kind of feel like waiting for Morgan to tell me the same thing."

Esme sat in silence for only a short moment before she said something, "I had met Morgan a few days ago, but she seemed to be someone who would keep so much a secret. She seemed like someone who would keep this world a mystery for me, unlike Vlad who told me anything about this world's past. He wouldn't go anywhere near the present, I assume it's a touchy subject for the Council. Like there's something that you don't quite understand... and I guess my questions were straying closer and closer to that thing, that would explain why Vlad stayed quiet. I'm sorry," Esme shook her head, "I'm thinking out loud, a bad law school habit."

[Judas]

He shook his head when the girl threw his own words back at him. It would take a hell of a lot more than curiosity to kill him. “I’m no cat.” He replied simply and without any obvious emotion. “And eavesdropping is more fun, you learn more than you would from asking questions.”

“Morgan won’t abandon you. That one’s as loyal as they get.” He said when she confessed to worrying over having just one tutor. He would think that the girl would learn more with just having one teacher. That way they knew what she was strong in and what she needed to work on. Morgan being on the council was another benefit, she could teach Esme what she needed to know to protect herself in the near future, hopefully without the girl catching on.

Judas took another long swig from his pint as he listened to her ramble, or think out loud as she’d called it. He was glad to hear that Vlad had kept something secret from the girl. The present was definitely something this girl didn’t need to know about, less of a chance of her getting involved that way. Though he supposed if she was going to be studying with Morgan then there was no way around her becoming involved eventually. This was just one case where later was preferred over sooner.

He sighed. “She’ll tell you what she thinks you need to know. Morgan’s not secretive, just cautious, she won’t keep information from you for no reason. I’m the secretive one of the council, count your blessings that I’m not the one teaching you.”

[Esme M. Lolland]

"Perhaps I should start eavesdropping then," Esme stated thoughtfully as she took another sip from her pint. She waved at the bartender, motioned at her pint and put up two fingers, he nodded back.

Esme thought over what Judas told her, that Morgan wasn't one to keep secrets, but Esme could sense that Morgan would get annoyed with Esme fairly quickly. "Morgan may end up keeping a lot from me, as both you and Vlad know, I'm a pretty inquisitive person. She may get upset with me asking so many questions, she'd keep the answers from me in some sort of revenge," Esme joked.

"And what do you mean by, I'm lucky you're not the one teaching me? Is it even possible for you to teach me about magic, I mean... you're not a witch/sorceror/warlock/wizard, etc." Esme's interest was piqued, she knew she shouldn't ask questions, but this one was too good to pass up.

[Judas]

Judas shook his head. “Be careful where you stick your nose, you’re more fragile than I am.” Considering he was impossible to kill, it wasn’t much of an insult but the girl didn’t need know that. He was just about to order another beer when Esme beat him to it. Leaving him free, as he suspected had been her plot, to focus on the conversation. He had finally begun to give her some small bits of information, he should have known the girl wouldn’t risk an end to it.

Another shake of the head. Morgan was the voice of reason in the council. There was so little spite in that body, or any other negative emotion for that matter, that he couldn’t help but wonder if some of it was put on. Of course it wasn’t and he was just a cynical, old man but still it was hard to believe that anyone could be so calm all the time. It just wasn’t natural. He wasn’t going to explain Morgan’s personality to the girl so she’d have to be content with the head shake for now. Revenge and Morgan Le Fey were like water and oil. “She’s a sorceress, inquisitive by nature. You two will get along and you worry to much.” Judas could see it now, now there would be two of them chasing some new spell or ancient, dusty book and asking him or Jonas teasingly if he’d owned it as a child once they’d found it. He’d have to find more reasons to leave the house in the future.

He raised an eyebrow at her question and kept his face carefully blank. Truthfully he knew a little about magic, the knowledge he’d gained from living for years upon years with a sorceress and a warlock and the very fact he was a demon gave him some knowhow. Could that qualify him as a tutor for a young witch? Of course not, a demon mentor was sure to count for something bad in the karma scale. With the demon king already hot on her tale, the last thing Esme needed was him trying to teach her something. “And how do you know what I am?” He asked and then sighed, trying to make his tone a bit more agreeable. “No, it’s not possible.”

[Esme M. Lolland]

Esme sighed, she realized that one of two things was going on in Judas' head at that point. Either, one: he didn't see Esme as quite as annoying a person as most would view her; or two: he felt that Morgan was a person of infinite patience and she could deal with a little pest like Esme. But either way, he definitely felt like the two of their personalities would meld together in such a way that they would be like salt and pepper in some ways.

Esme realized right after she had posed her question that she was once again treading on delicate ground. Just like Judas had been upset with her figuring out what his name was from the information Vlad had told her, he would be upset with Vlad also telling her what he was. Esme knew all too well that by telling Judas that Vlad had told her about Judas' job as a soul collector would almost tear apart the council. Esme felt safe with the council, that was the last thing she needed.

Rather than break up a bond that seemed to make Esme feel protected, she decided to cover it up with one of the irregularities in her power. "I couldn't sense any magic radiating off of you from the typical spaces like those of my kind. So I made the assumption that you are not like myself or Morgan. But you don't have a human aura, nor that of a vampire or an angel. But it's not altogether like that of Roxy, so I assume that you are something else... you said you were something else. What I can't exactly say."

After the explanation fell from her lips, Esme sensed that she had spoken too much, possibly a dead giveaway that she was concocting a tale while she spoke. But she also sensed that she probably skirted around the question as best as she could. She hadn't ratted out Vlad and she hoped she hadn't angered Judas at the same time. She sighed, gratefully, as the waiter came and placed the two pints in front of them. She took a sip to hide her satisfied smile.

[Judas]

The girl seemed to take an awfully long time to think and her answer sounded well thought out. She was probably trying to make sure she phrased it right to avoid making him angry again, afraid of another outburst like the one on the street. He had known it would happen, he was used to it by now, it was nothing out of the ordinary.

Judas was impressed with her reasoning, though he should have suspected nothing less from a girl from a family of lawyers. Deductive reasoning to rival Sherlock Holmes and boundless curiosity, everything he strove to avoid coming into contact with. It was like this girl was his own personal demon sent to break down all the layers of secrecy he lived behind. He would be seeing a lot of Esme with her being Morgan’s student…maybe he’d take a vow of silence since everything he said seemed to fit into some puzzle in her head.

Or was it better to just get it out of the way and tell her what he was? He could leave his age out of it so nothing from the past was brought up. If she was going to ask questions about something, better it be about demons and hell rather than his own past. Of course he’d be having a talk with Vlad very soon about keeping his fanged mouth shut.

Judas took a long drink from his beer and thought over his options. If Esme was going to be around as much as he guessed she would be, then she’d find out one way or another. Doubtless the girl would begin to notice how often he was gone to collect the souls of the damned and he wasn’t always able to hide the pain, which was why he didn’t go into public often. Better to tell her now and save himself from someone else telling her to much.

“I’m a soul collector, what you’d call a grim reaper.” His voice was low and showed his distaste for giving out the information to anyone, let alone a human girl he’d just met. He would just have to keep telling himself it was for the best.

[Esme M. Lolland]

Esme watched in silence as Judas seemed to battle with himself. It was as if he were trying to figure out whether he should tell her something extremely important about himself. The turmoil that burned in his eyes was so obvious that Esme bit her tongue just to keep herself from asking more questions. He would come across the right answer on his own, and hopefully it would be the one she wanted from him.

She held tightly onto her drink and took a sip every now and again, watching as Judas' face took on a new shape. He seemed to determine what his answer would be. Esme watched intently, waiting for his resolve.

So, that was what a soul collector was? It was just a different name for a grim reaper, huh. Esme could see it in his face, he hated telling her. He hated telling anyone what he truly was. She wasn't going to hate him for that, she was happy he actually told her. No more having to lie that she'd already known.

"It must be depressing work," Esme commented, "Do you work with the underworld or... Wow. You must have been really put-off by the questions about religion. I mean, since you probably know someone connected to... I'll stop."

Esme thought for a second and put her hand on the tote bag that she had been attempting to ignore. The "gift" she had recieved from Roxy earlier that day was throbbing for attention. She twisted her mouth to the side, attempting to figure out if it were the right idea to share it with Judas. "Since you shared with me, would you be too upset if I shared something else with you? I apoligize for bothering you with all of these things, I barely know you, but perrhaps you'll know what to do with it... better than I do."

Esme bit the bottom of her lip pensievely and waited for Judas' answer. Either he'd be so interested in what she wanted to share that he would say 'yes' or he'd be so annoyed with her that saying 'no' was his sign of telling her to stop sharing so much with him. That she would be his undoing, or he hers.

[Judas]

Judas let out a surprised, sharp, bitter laugh when she said that collecting damned souls must be depressing work. If there were contests for understatements, then there was no doubt in his mind that this girl was the reigning champion. Sure, you could call dragging sobbing, pleading souls to eternal pain and suffering while your own soul burned in the same fiery pits depressing.

“If by the underworld you mean hell, then yeah, I work with the underworld.” He said, voice short. He emptied the new beer and set the glass back down on the table with an audible clank. “Let’s just leave it at, I collect the souls of the damned. Don’t sell your soul to a demon and you won’t get a visit from me.” That was all he felt like saying on the matter but he knew by now that giving the girl small tidbits to work on was better than trying to avoid her questions completely. He was the karmic version of coal in your stocking. If you were good then you never saw it, but screw up and you’d be having one bad day.

He watched her hand reach inside a small bag. Her next question caught him off guard. What could Esme possibly have that she would want his help with? It stood to reason that he’d know more about whatever was in that bag than this young girl and it had to be something supernatural if she was asking him only after finding out what he was.

“Let’s see it.” He said at last. If it was something that would get the girl into trouble then he wasn’t about to pass up a chance to stop her from getting hurt. It was what he did, he was on the council after all….he literally lived for things like this.

(PS congrats on the moderator position!)

[Esme M. Lolland]

Esme nodded her head as she stored in the back of her mind that she shouldn't do anything that would leave her in the position that she'd need to sell her soul to a demon. The last thing she truly wanted to do was put her new friend into any more pain than he had to go through.

After getting the 'okay' from Judas to share with him, she pulled out the book that Roxy had given her a few hours prior. She winced as she touched it, it's energy had bothered her earlier, and even now, after she had carried it around with her, it was still like a shot. She felt so much pain from a book, as stupid as it may sound.

As soon as she had gotten it out of her bag, she practically threw it onto the table in front of Judas. Once it was out of her grasp she took a deep breath and another drink of her beer. This book was the last thing she needed on her person, she already regretted not leaving it on the table at the restaurant.

"So, do you remember me mentioning Roxy?" Esme asked, before Judas could truly answer she went on, "Well, Roxy felt like she was pure evil in a fake body, practically, and she gave this to me. She said that it would help me with magic, and I was wary when it came to actually taking it from her. But it was either take it or never see the light of day again, it seemed. But the thing is, this book feels almost as bad as she had. She tells me that it may be that I'm not used to this much power in one form, but I'm not that sure... Perhaps it's just her worn off on the book, but I can't have it in my hands too long without feeling slightly sick. And don't even make me open it once more."

Esme ran her fingers through her hair, nervously and watched to see what Judas would do with the book. She waited for what his idea of it would be. Maybe he would know what to do with it, maybe he could put rest to her fears, as childish as they may be.

(PS, Thanks! ^_^ I missed you, lol.)